Tag: book

So anyone who has read any of my book club post knows I love reading and this year I want to challenge myself. I have a lot of books that need to be read and no doubt I will get more to add to this list. So I decided to set a reading challenge. I decided to set mine on the goodreads app so that I can just keep track of what I’ve read how many books I have lefts to reach my goal. I set my goal at 25 books but Im hoping to read more. So I thought I would share with you some of the books I want to read this year. So here we go.

Body Positive Power by Megan Jayne Crabbe.

Blurb – Megan’s body image issues began when she was five years old and at fourteen she found herself spiralling into anorexia. After recovery she spent years dieting, binging, losing and gaining weight. Until she found body positivity and finally escaped the cult of thin. Now she’s determined to let as many people as possible know the truth: that we are all good enough as we are.

Megan Jayne Crabbe is known as bodyposipanda on instagram and is part of the body positive movement. If you have ever have struggled with hating the way you look or hating your weight then you need to look at her instagram and read this book. I am currently reading this book and I’ve never loved myself and my body more and I’m only 80 pages in. Everybody desires to feel sexy and beautiful and loved Megan really shows you that your just that. I’m so excited to finish this book and spread the love.

The first fifteen lives of Harry August by Claire North

Blurb – No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, every time Harry dies, he always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life lived a dozen time before. Nothing ever changes – until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears his bedside.’I nearly missed you Doctor August,’ she says. ‘I need to send a message.’ This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

This book really stood out to me because of the concept of rebirth. That when Harry dies his life starts again, he is born again. I have started reading this and I’m about 37% though but I am finding it a bit of a chore at the moment. To me its time jumps can be a bit confusing and there is a lot of scientific language which sometimes I have to stop and Google. But I will finish this book and I don’t like to let books bet me.

The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr hyde and other tales of terror by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Blurb – Published as a ‘Shilling shocker’ Robert Louis Stevenson’s dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll’s strange association with ‘damnable young man’ Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde’s true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity’s basest capacity for evil.

I really wanted to start and read more classic books and I love horror and more traditional horrors so I thought this would be a great start to classic as its sort stories to get me started to dive in to some of the other classic books I have to read. The other stories in this collection is The body snatcher, Olalla and A Chapter on dreams. There is also a part called Diagnosing Jekyll : the scientific context to Dr Jekyll’s Experiment and Mr Hyde’s Embodiment by Robert Mighall which sounds really interesting to dive into the science behind to story.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Blurb – Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear.

When I was in high school our English lessons were split in to sets from 1 to 6. The top two set were considered the smart ones 3 and 4 were middle and 5 and 6 where the people who needed some help. Each group of sets would read something different. I was in set 3 so I read Of mice and men (which I love), An Inspector calls, Romeo and Juliet and Jane Eyre (which we did not finish as most people in my group hated reading). But The top sets read The kill and mockingbird and Frankenstein and I really wanted to read them both but never got the changes. So now Im going to read both of them that I have wanted to read since high school.

The letters of Vincent Van Gogh

Blurb – Few artists’ letters are as self-revelatory as Vincent Van Gogh’s and this selection, spanning his artistic career, sheds light on every facet of the life and work of this complex and tortured man. Engaging candidly and movingly with his religious struggles, his ill-facted search for love, his attacks of mental illness and his relationship with his brother Theo, the letters contradict the popular image of Van Gogh as an anti-social madman and a martyr to art, showing a man of great emotional and spiritual depths. Above all, they stand as an intense personal narrative of artistic development and a unique account of the process of creation.

I’m not a massive art fan. I can appreciate a good piece of art but I never studied it and couldn’t tell you who’s art work it was (unless it was a really popular one). But ever since I listened to the podcast Do Go On and the episode about Vincent Van Gogh I was really interested in him and his life. During the episode they mentioned he and his brother would send letters to each other constantly that it was almost like his diary. When I was browsing Amazon and sure this book I had to get it and read his letters to get a insight into what he was thinking and his life from his point of view.

The keeper of lost things by Ruth Hogan

Blurb – Meet the Keeper of lost things… Anthony Peardew has spent half his life collecting lost objects, trying to atone for a promise broken many years before. Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant Laura, the one person he can trust to reunite the thousands of objects with their rightful owners. But the final wishes of the keeper of lost things have unforeseen repercussion which triggers a most serendipitous series of encounters.

This book jump out at me for a very cute story but has a little bit of mystery to it like what promise did he brake and why did he start doing this. But I just drawn to this book and think it will make a great holiday read considering I will be going on a 9 hour flight there and a 8 hours back Ill have plenty of time to read.

For those that don’t know I love books (if you want to be part of my book club and read and review a book each month you can go here to find the latest one.) But I don’t just love reading them I love listening to them too.

When I was younger I remember getting some audiobook CD’s for christmas and listening to them as i went to sleep. I had All american girl by Meg Cabot, My secret unicorn by Linda Chapman and Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl. This love has followed me in to adulthood. I use Audible to listen to my audiobooks. (Im not sponsored but I really do love this service.) So I thought I would tell you my favourite audiobooks that I have listen too and which ones I would recommend. So lets get started.

Yes please – Amy Poehler.

If you like Amy Poehler at all I would recommend this book. This is her autobiography that is very funny and very true. She doesn’t hold back and doesn’t just give us the good things but she tells us her bad stuff but she is so honesty, true and funny about everything. I do have the book and was following along with he audiobook at point but I would recommend the audiobook as there are some stuff that in the audiobook and not in the book and because she is the one narrating the book it is very funny as she delivers the jokes that might not be as funny as if your reading it and don’t have her voice to deliver it.

Is It Just Me? – Miranda Hart

This is similar to the Amy Poehler as that it sound better because Miranda narrates it which makes the jokes land. I remember listening to this while trying to fall asleep but the jokes were so funny and the way she tells the stories and jokes were making me laugh so much that I couldn’t get to sleep. So make sure that you are in a place that you can laugh. You can relate to many of the things Miranda says in the book.

Any Harry Potter book by J K Rowling

Do I need to say anymore. The Harry Potter books are amazing but read by Stephen Fry there even better. That mans voice is amazing and really brings the books to life. If you are on the Audible subscription (there are ties Im on the cheapest on at £7.99) you get a credit a month. One credit equals one book so you could spend you credit on a Harry Potter book (which coast around £30) so you can save a lot of money on the books.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.

This a great book by none other then John Green. This is a young adult book about finding yourself like many other of John Greens books. I did love the characters in this book and the story over all and if you like John Green books and haven’t listen/ read this book you defiantly should. The narrator Jeff Woodman tells the story brilliantly.

On the other side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

I have talked about this book in my very first book club which you can find here. I got the audiobook because I loved the book so much that I wanted to listen to it while relaxing and falling asleep. Carrie Hope Fletcher reads this book and you can just tell how much she loves this book. She narrates this book beautifully. I will defiantly be listening to this book again.

So there my top picks for audiobooks. If you have read or listened to any of these let me know what you thought about them in the comments. If you want to see more of me you can follow me on twitter @NicklessEllie and on Instagram @ellienickless (the buttons are on the side.) You can also follow the blog to get notified when I post next.

There is one version of my story that everyone knows. And then there is the truth. Once I loved a boy called Peter Pan.

Peter brought me to his island because there were no rules and no grownups to make us mind. He brought boys from the other place to join in the fun, but Peter’s idea of fun is sharper than a pirate’s sword. He wants always to be that shining sun that we all revolve around. He’ll do anything to be that sun. Peter promised we would all be young and happy forever. Peter will say I’m a villain, that i wronged him, that I never was his friend.

Peter lies.

My thoughts:

When I brought this book the cashier told me he had just finished this book and it was incredible. He was not wrong.

This is an amazing story about Peter Pan long before Wendy, John and Michael. This story is from the point of view from a lost boy called Jamie. He is not only a lost boy but he was the very first lost boy and Peter’s right hand man. So this gives us a very unique view in to Peter Pan and his life.

This is a very dark retailing so if your looking for the magic, wonder and love that the Disney film brought you, its not here. There is still magic but there are dark secrets and very real fights. But this just adds to the great story.

I fell in love with the main character Jamie and the care he shows for the other lost boys but also because of his strength and leadership he shows to make sure everyone survives this very scary and sometimes frightening island.

There is a character in the book called Charlie who is a very young child. His relationship with Jamie will fill you with hope and a little joy in this very dark setting. But you will slow start to hate Peter in the way he not only treats this cute, innocent child but all the lost boys.

I will not spoil Jaimes back story but when we do fined out its shocking.

You will never forget this story and this version of Peter Pan.

I loved this book so much so Im going to give this book 5/5.

If you haven’t read this book PLEASE DO!

Next month I will be reading and reviewing Dream a little dream by Giovanna fletcher.

If you have any book suggestions for future book clubs let me know in the comments. If you liked this post give it and like. You can also follow the blog for when I post next.

You can follow me on twitter @NicklessEllie and on Instagram @ellienickless (or the buttons on the side.)

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew…”

Many people will know John Green for his book The Fault in our stars which became a movie. This was my first book from John and now I have read three and I love all of them.

From the start the prologue pulled me in and I wanted to see how Q and Margo’s friendship grew and what happened to them next. As the years go by Q and Margo’s friendship is not what it was but she choses him for an adventure before she runs away.

Q’s search for Margo leaves you guessing. Guessing where she has gone?, if she’s okay, Why she did it?, if she will come back? and if Q will find here.

Along with Q’s friends Ben, Radar and Margo’s friend Lacey they try and solve the puzzle of to where Margo has gone by the clues Margo’s have left behind. I was so invested in to if they would find Margo and if she was okay. I also wanted to know why she did it. In the end it is a very beautiful story of teenagers losing themselves, not knowing who they are and trying to find themselves. Its a story that we can all relate to. We can also relate to Q and his secret unrequited love for Margo and asking what he will do to find her.

Overall I would give this book a 4 out of 5.

Next months book will be Wilde like me by Louise Pentland. Link to her book below.

This months book is a love like blood. I am going to but a warning on this. In the story there is talk of sex, murder and of course blood if thats not what you in to or don’t think your the right age please skip this book and go to next months book which is talked about and the end.

The blurb

“I’ve chased him for over twenty years, and across countless miles, and though often I was running, there have been many times when I could do nothing but sit and wait. Now I am only desperate for it to be finished.In 1944, just days after the liberation of Paris, Charles Jackson sees something horrific: a man, apparently drinking the blood of a murdered woman. Terrified, he does nothing, telling himself afterwards that worse things happen in wars.

Seven years later he returns to the city – and sees the same man dining in the company of a fascinating young woman. When they leave the restaurant, Charles decides to follow…

A LOVE LIKE BLOOD is a dark, compelling thriller about how a man’s life can change in a moment; about where the desire for truth – and for revenge – can lead; about love and fear and hatred. And it is also about the question of blood.”

This book was quite the rollercoaster of a book. I from “ohh this is a good book” to “oh no its losing me a bit” to “ohh its getting good again” to “well that was a bit disappointing”. The story sucks you in and you are intrigued by the mystery and the horror that the main character Charles Jackson finds himself in that you want to find out with him. The book dose goes in to some very dark and horrifying territory with brutal murders being spelled out with nothing being left to the imagination.

I was really enjoying this book up until the end. We went on the decade long journey with Charles and it built up to the epic moment with the villain and then the ending to all that and the direction Charles goes in the end was so unsatisfying to me. I felt that after everything that Charles dose to stop the villain this is the way he goes. It left me feeling that the character Charles wouldn’t go down that route after everything that happened.

So overall I would give this book a 3 out of 5 and would only recommend to people who like very dark and disturbing stories.

Next months book is Paper Towns by John Green who (if you don’t know) is the author of The Fault in our Stars. There is a movie based on this book but I haven’t watched it so I’m going in to this which out any idea what is going to happen. Links to the book below.

I love reading and thought I would start a book club on here. Every month I will read a book that I will review and talk about here. So the first book I will be talking it about is On the other side by Carrie Hope Fletcher.

The blurb:

” Evie Snow is eighty – two when she quietly passes away in her sleep. It’s the way most people wish to leave the world, but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she’s become her twenty- seven- year-old self and the door won’t open.

Evie’s soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making it heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets which have weighed her down for over fifty years before it’s too late. As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever though possible, and somehow, some way, she may also find her way back to the only man she ever truly loved…”

I don’t think I have ever fallen in love with a book as quickly as much as I have with this book. The story is incredibly told and is a very sweet and ,sometimes heartbreaking, look at love, life and family. The story is based in reality but has some magic sprinkled though and I love that so much. The love story between the main character Evie and Vincent is incredibly sweet and heartwarming and I was so invested in there love.

I read this book in three days because I just couldn’t put it down. I needed to know if Evie got to her afterlife and if there was a happy ending or if I was going to be left sad with life. I did cry a little at this book and the only other book that has managed to make me cry was The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

This book as pushed its way to my second favourite book ever (the first is the whole Harry Potter serious because nothing can top them in my book.) I was so obsessed with this book that when I finished it I ordered the small novella Carrie wrote based on On the Other Side and tells a part of Vincent’s story.

Carrie is an amazing author and I can wait to read her new book :All that she can see” that will be released on the 13th July which you can pre order on Amazon and Waterstones.

If you recognise Carrie’s name that is because she is a Youtuber and musical theatre star. She is currently staring in the Addams Family musical as Wednesday Addams and is amazing. ( I did a review on the musical which you can find here.) I will leave some links to Carries channel and the videos in which she talks about this book because who better to get information from then the author.